On May 1st, Emily and John brought their friends and family to Pinehurst, North Carolina for their wedding celebrations. Emily and John were already familiar with Pinehurst as Emily’s father and stepmother married there years ago and she and John have enjoyed many vacations to the famous golf community. The lush scenery, the small town touches and the excellent cuisine made Pinehurst the perfect spot for them to host their big day.
Emily and John kicked off the weekend at Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club, sharing fabulous food and cocktails out on the veranda with their bridal party and closest family. A slideshow of their childhoods, created by Emily’s uncle, capped off the night so sweetly.
On the morning of the wedding, there were some serious yet funny complications. I will spare a web of strangers the funny photos but let’s just say one groomsmen was without a tux and one photographer, Drea, got a round brush stuck in her hair. Both made for some quick thinking and thankfully speedy solutions to the dilemmas, but none the less added some speed bumps in the road.
When John discovered that the tux was missing, after his heart started beating at a normal pace again, they called all the shops in Pinehurst to find a replacement tux. No luck. Then they called the guests to see if possibly a suit could be borrowed, but the sizes weren’t going to line up. So with all of his groomsmen in place, an hour before the ceremony, Casey started snapping photos of the entire group with one in shorts and a t-shirt.
Meanwhile, about the same time John realized he was one tux short, Drea was finishing up her doo earlier than usual. Trying out a new brush, ok…a super cheap drugstore brush, she quickly began to look like the underside of the vacuum cleaner. A round brush, caught in every direction like teeth of a rotary brush, protruding from her head. After Drea and Casey got over the initial shock, tried every means possible to release the despicable brush (lotion, conditioner, pens and pencils, bobby pins, etc) Casey was forced to call Emily’s astute wedding planner, Maggie Smith, and give her the scoop. The conversation went a little like this:
Casey:”Hey Maggie, we’ve got a slight hiccup here. Drea’s got a brush stuck in her hair.”
Maggie: “A what?”
Casey: “She has a brush stuck in her hair. She’s ready to go, we just can’t get the brush out. Any ideas or she’s ready to have an emergency haircut?”
Maggie: “The bridesmaids are just finishing up hair and makeup with our stylist so just come over to the house and we’ll get her fixed up. I thought is was something serious. No worries.”
We travelled to the house, Drea pretending to be in mid brush while walking through the lobby, parking lot and entering a house full of giddy and newly primped bridesmaids. Emily saw Drea’s head and immediately said, “Poor thing, ” but we were just relieved she thought it funny and not a freak out moment. Emily’s amazing stylist Andy from Bamboo Salon in Southern Pines, took one look at Drea’s head and was in a bit of shock. He hadn’t seen any brush that committed to some one’s hair ever. Andy and Casey had a moment of inspiration and used nail clippers to cut each bristle out of said stuck area. It took ten minutes but the results were amazing and everything still started ON TIME! Woohoo! Since then, Drea has vowed never to buy cheap brushes on a whim and never to try a new hairstyle on the morning of a wedding.
Emily elected to get dressed at the church in Southern Pines: Emmanuel Episcopal Church. The church is absolutely gorgeous and has such lovely windows that are perfect for use of natural light. It is a good thing too, as Emmanuel Episcopal Church has some of the strictest photography rules we’ve ever encountered in North Carolina. Anne, the churches coordinator, is so very kind but as so many photographers have abused priveledges in the past (who are these photographers anyway) they have had to contruct many a don’t for their sweet building. In hindsight, as Anne noticed so many guests taking cellphone photos and flip videos, she turned to me and said, “Boy, you’re the ones being paid for this and you’re not even allowed to do that.” I was grateful for her a-ha moment but it didn’t change the fact that we had to follow the rules.
I loved Emily’s gown, remember her gorgeous bridal portraits, all from Hayden Olivia Bridal in Charlotte, North Carolina. She chose Ines Di Santos for her designer.
For her pretty maids, she chose Ann Taylor dresses.
Emily and John decided to have a first look before the ceremony. Moments before, Joseph A.Banks came through with a tux for John’s casually dressed groomsmen and with all of the pieces in place, it made for a perfectly relaxing and lovely break in the day.
We loved all of the florals for ceremony, bridal party and reception. The arrangements were beautifully done by Maggie Smith and her team at Maggie’s Farm for Flowers.
With the ceremony about to begin, Emily and her Dad made their way into the church. Their ring bearer, nephew Cooper, made it all the way down the aisle by himself.
- Casey’s view from the balcony.
- Drea’s view from outside the doors.
- Happy Couple!
After the ceremony, we had time to snap some family portraits in the lovely gardens before heading out to the reception.
Emily and John chose The Country Club of North Carolina for their reception of happy hour (Emily’s favorite), sit down dinner and lots and lots of dancing.
Another one of Emily’s favorite touches was the “sand trap” that held all of the name cards. She and John even tackled some fun DIY projects for their dinner tables, like homemade signs for each table that showed how the group was linked to the couple. They also had personalized candy tins made with their name and date and all in their colors of peach, green, yellow and white.
- Adorable ring bearer hamming it up at Happy Hour.
Everyone was treated to an amazing sit down dinner of filet mignon, sea bass, whipped potatoes and asparagus. YUM!
It was not long after dinner that the dance floor got fired up by The Troupers and it didn’t cool down until Emily and John were whisked away.
Another little addition they chose for their guests, besides some delicious wedding cake from Brill Bakery, was a dessert sampling of tiramisu and strawberry cake. And for the late night crowd still needing energy, they had a queso bar set up for noshing.
Emily and John had so many favorite moments of the day and it all went by so fast. Emily loved spending time with her girls, seeing John before the ceremony, the cocktail hour on the gorgeous terrace and how much fun their reception was for everyone.
My bouquet consisted of all handstitched fabric flowers. The fabric came from my Mom and her Mother’s wedding gowns. So special!! Two things that I will never part with. 
by thecunn1
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